Brian Fuentes, in his first outing Wednesday after returning from the disabled list, assumed his old role as closer and promptly blew the save when Miguel Cabrera hit a tying home run to lead off the ninth inning.

If that wasn’t enough, Fuentes then walked two batters and gave up the go-ahead run when Ramon Santiago singled with two outs to score Alex Avila.

The Tigers snapped the Angels’ five-game win streak with their 4-3 victory at Angel Stadium. The Angels were held scoreless over the last eight innings.

“Command wasn’t there and I felt I had better control in my rehab start,” Fuentes said. “My control wasn’t where I wanted it to be but I didn’t feel like I was mechanically way off. I did execute some good pitches and will take some positive things from it.”

Blowing a save and then losing the game never is a quiet endeavor, but what made this one particularly attention-getting was the fact that Fernando Rodney went 5 for 5 in save chances as Fuentes recovered from a strained back.

Not only that, but Rodney faced just 16 of the minimum 15 batters while earning his five saves. He gave up a single while saving Tuesday’s victory.

It might not have mattered Wednesday if Rodney was the closer or not. After closing games Monday and Tuesday manager Mike Scioscia said Rodney was getting the day off Wednesday, as was Kevin Jepsen.

Scioscia had been insisting that Fuentes would get his old job back when he came back from the disabled list. He was asked again after Wednesday’s defeat and wasn’t as direct.

“We have to put this whole bullpen together first,” Scioscia said. “We didn’t have all the pieces in place today. Guys did a great job. We pitched really well deep into the game.

“We can’t evaluate this thing until you get Jepsen, Rodney, Fuentes and (Scot) Shields all available and see how it works. We have to give this a little bit of time.”

Wednesday’s cool temperatures felt like football weather, so it makes perfect sense that the Angels now find themselves in the backup-quarterback quandary. The fan favorite on any football team is the backup QB, especially when the starter is struggling, and that is what the Angels essentially have now.

Rodney is in uniform, capable of doing the job, has shown he can do the job, so how long will it be before manager Mike Scioscia hands the right-hander the role full time?

If it was the choice of the fans, who booed lustily when Scioscia removed Rodney following Santiago’s single, the change would happen as early as today.

“You never want to get booed,” Fuentes said. “But people are fanatics, they’re fans. They’ll cheer you when you’re good and boo you when you’re bad. That’s the way it is. It’s part of the game and I’ve been doing this a long time. It doesn’t bother me that much.”

The blown save spoiled Jered Weaver’s chances at his third victory. The right-hander pitched well, giving up two runs on six hits with six strikeouts over seven innings.

The Angels got the jump on the Tigers in the opening inning by scoring three runs against Tigers starter Jeremy Bonderman. Bobby Abreu singled home Erick Aybar and Kendry Morales added a two-run home run.

Morales’ home run was his fourth of the season and 50 th of his career in 295 games. He became the fourth fastest Angels player to reach 50 home runs behind Tim Salmon (245 games), Mike Napoli (265) and Wally Joyner (284).

Fuentes was also shooting for a No. 50 milestone that didn’t come. He was bidding to become the fastest Angels pitcher to 50 saves, but that number will have to wait another day.

“Any time something like that happens it’s a little disappointing but it’s baseball and stuff like that does happen,” said Weaver, who credited fastball command for his solid outing. “I’ll move on and get to tomorrow and hopefully we can take three out of four (against the Tigers).”

For now he will provide encouragement for his teammate.

“(Fuentes) didn’t lead the league in saves last year for no reason,” Weaver said. “We just have to move on and get to tomorrow.”